The toiler. (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, June 25, 1920, Image 4

Image and text provided by Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, OH

UNITED COMMUNIST PARTYRMED BY COMMUNIST GROUPSCOMMUNIST LABOR PARTY AND K'rrs ;... r, ,,, .....,.. ..n-r, . ttat there might bt tw division onMAJUK1 1 I Ur UJMMUNia 1 r AK-TY UNITE THROUGH SECRETCONVENTION.From a copy of the "Communist ' ',which declares itself the ''officialorgan of the United Communist Party," we reprint the following storydescribing the unity convention of theCommunist Party and the CommunisLabor Party:The Convention of theRevolutionists.During the first week of September,1919 th,ere were organized in theUnited States two Communist part it's.Within two months both parties together had completed an enrollment ofmore than 40,000 dues-paying members.The prospects pointed to a quick increase to 60,000, perhaps 70,000:about three-fourths of the former Socialist Party membership.Along came the Lusk Committeeraids and arrests in New York; alsosporadic arrests elsewhere in connection with the November 7th celebration. Organization of Communists waschecked. Came an ominous lull then theavalanche of the New Year thePalmer nation wide raids, arrests, brutalities. At the end of January Secretaryof Labor Wilson held that" alien members of the Communist Party weresubject to deportation. Communistsmembers of both parties were branded as outlaws in the courts of NewYork and New Jersey. Like results appeared imminent in Massachusetts, Illinois, Michigan, California, Ohio, Indiana, in many other statesNo longer were there party headquarters, neither national, state, noractive party otticiais wennot at once achieved, it was not untilnoon of the seventh day that this issuewas decided conclusively.Neither side was fully conscious ofthe undercurrent of sentiment on theother side. Factional controversies ofearly a year's standing surcharged theatmosphere with suspicion suspicionnot only across tue line but withineach camp. None of the delegates werewilling to surrender their reservationsuntil after a long series of debates,some of little intrinsic importance,many on basic questions of Communistunderstanding and practice questionswhich had never before been reallyfaced in United States.One delegate hit upon the mostsalient truth about this convention inthe remark that, in contrast to anyother convention in which ho hailtaken part either in Europe or America, this convention had met squarebevery essential issue and debated itfully to its ultimate solution.There were three separate advancesessions of the two parties. To eachof these conventions was presented thetentative draft of a Program andConstitution previously prepared bya Joint Committee: Damon, Caxtonand Fisher. O, P.. and Brown, Kleinand Dubner, C. L.PDuring the second of these sessions,a message came to the C. P. conventionthat the C.L.P. convention had acceptedthe agreements of the Joint Committee asa bisis for unity, reserving all amendments for joint discussion.At this moment the C. P. convention had under consideration a substitute Manifesto, Program and Const i-but the oldlocal. Thein jail or were fugitives. No meetings tution presented by Ford for the Newcould be held without inviting arrests. I York District delegation. The debateVerv little money could be raised even j quickly centered on the declaration asfor defense and relief of prisoner, (to ''mass action", it being concededBy February 1920 the two thriving ' that the Joint Committee Program wasparties of October 1919 had vanished i more acceptable as an entirety. TheThe Luskers and Palmerites had done 'main contention was that the Jointtheir work completely, perfectly. This ' Committee had not used direct ami uncountry was immunized from the I equivocal language as to force. It was"red' terror the terror which answered that the criticism was onlyhaunts the world. . .be any doubt but that the Programntivttn .Innvl. 1. nvtvi.,,1 ..,.aH n .nii u it ill i t iv ai nil -i it, tilt an 1,111the issues to come upparty division was gone.A bolt of nine or ten of the C. Pdelegate was started. Klein (C.L.P.) jre introduced the motion to proceedwith the discussion of the Programand Peace was restored.The opening debates were sparringmatches, with a strong undercurrent ofnervousness. Threescore persons, engaged in a criminal conspiracy, spenttwo hours to decide whether capitalism breaks down in that it fails to"produce" the needs of life, orwhether the collapse is due to thefailure to "provide". After considerable uncertainty the argument prevailed that capitalism, in spite of all itsequipment, stultifies production; thewheels of industry turn only at thecall of profit, regardless of all capabilities for production; crisis or nocrisis, capitalism has never functionedto "provide" the needs of the masses...In the playfulness of this debatewas expressed relaxation and the forestalling of another premature clash.Tim was the safe way of "gettingacquainted" the suppressed form ofthe struggle for unity.Restrained resentment and suspicionbroke louse into a furious storm duringthe next session. At the first statement in the Program concerning theoverthrow of the capitalist system itwas insisted that the word "forcible".be added. Likewise, at the first mention of "conquest of political power"it was demanded that there be added"by the use of armed force." Oneamendment was piled upon another averitable "force" panic.Tn vain was it argued that this partof the Program contained only preliminary definitions, statements of thegoal to be achieved; that the Program,under appropriate subdivisions, gavefull attention to the methods of action;stand by itself, but is the inevitablethat the item of armed force does notculminating aspect of "mass action";that this tactic must be presented Inits develonmental. character armed uprising as the unavoidable sequence ofthe advancing class conflict.The C. L. P. delegates, for theof words: that there could not possibly most part, were ready lor a test otsire isn ;i"uinsi iiic v.. i. mct-uu-Sometime recently, somewheretween the Atlantic and Pacific, between the Gulf and the Great Lake?two groups of elected delegates assembled as the Unity Conference of theCommunist Party and the Communistultimate and inevitable form of "massaction. "Personal suspicion stimulated thisargument. The outside group of the 0.P. the majority members of tho Cen-Labor Party. Of the former, 32; ofi" executive Lomrmtice-nau manu-nr,A nno frntnrnal Hoi. I JaCUirt U IUC JSSUe Ul lUrce as a UOIIl-the latter. 25,egate; also a representative of theExecutive Committee of the CommunistInternational. These 59 delegate cametogether from all parts .of the Unitedmates, "held sessions fdr seven days,debated every issue with absolutethoroughness, laid out the plan of workfor the United Communist Party; allunder the most perfect circumstancesconceivable for such a convention.One who holds in his hand thescroll upon which is inscribed therecord of this mysterious gatheri'V isamazed, for one thing, at the roll ofdelegates. Communist Party and Communist Labor Party but all thesestrange namost Not one of the 1919Communists present! Search the rollagain; not one familiar name. Remarkable achievement of the LuskPalmcr Inquisition not one of the1919 Communists in the list!In spite of the fact that thesedelegates came together on a call fora "Unity Conference," in spite ofall realised of the fearful blow itwould be to the Communist move-inant item in the C. P. split. Therehad never been such a factional issue.But the Easten delegates particularlywere determined to make certain thatthere would be nothing about the handling of this subject which might leavea loophole for the C. P. opposition.Agreement was reached for the revision of the Program in a number ofparticulars, the C. P. delegates to support these amendments as a unit. TheC. P. convention further bound itsmembers on the issue of federations;also, to retain the C. P. name and emblem. The first joint session opened witha spirited dispute as to election ofcomimttees. Some of the C. P. delegates insisted upon discussion of theProgram as the first order of business.They said that they wera not readyto commit themselves as to joint proceedings until tho Program was disposed of. This brought forth angryprotest: it served as a challenge to thegroup unity of the C. L. P. It wnsurged that unity had been achieved bycoming together on the basis of thement in this country if unity were Joint Committee Program and Con-cilables. " They were conscious thatthis minority would have to acceptdefeat, since the point to be votedwas onlv on what page somethingshould be stated in the Program. Otherssensed too much danger of misunderstanding behind such a vote, too muchanger where agreement could easily bereached. Caxtoa moved to recommitthis part of the Program, then to adjourn. There were some protests, butthe motion prevailed. Meanwhile thetension was relaxed by the brilliantsatirical speech of Sherwood, whoseYankee wit was the perfect antidotefor passionate argument on an artificially stimulated issue.The C. P. night caucus which followed, the amendments proposed by theJoint Committee, and a decision to dispose first of the section on "MassAction," gave the convention smoothsailing the next morning.A spirited debate ensued on theproposition to limit nominations tolegis lativc officers, according to thoclause of the C. P. program.The issue was not clear-cut,since the anti-parliamentarians took theside of limiting nominations as oneway of expressing opposition to allnominations. Brown (C. L. P.) andsome of the C. P. speakers argueddirectly against nominations of any kind.Damon (C. P.) contended that thisclause was needed to discourage pettynominations by local units of the party,Raphailoff (C. L. P.) Caxton (C. P.)Malcolm (C.iL,. P.) and others pointedout that tajS general proposition ofparliamentary action was not involvedin this debJFthat to the extent wewere to hwJT any nominations at allit was indispensable, under the American system, to name the "head of theticket", the president, governor ormayor; that this clause had beenwritten into the C. P. program underthe misconcepntion that this was theproper method of meeting the "ministerial question," the fact being thatthe Socialist ministers in Europe hadall been elected as legislative candidates; that in this country tho Socialists whether elected to legislativeor executive offices had all behavedequally badly; that, finally, it was nooccasion to worry about the actionsf a Communist presidet. because therevolution would forestall this contingency, and that minor executiveofficers could serve just as well to bethrown out of office as the Communistselected to the legislatures.By a close vote the paragraph wasretained, but the limitation is of noimmediate practical moment since theconvention further went on recordagainst all nominations during the1920 campaigns.On the third day occured the longestand most stubborn debate of the convention, that on idnustrial unionism.This was another three cornered affair.The C. P. convention had passed upthe question of the I. W. W. becauseit was apparent that this questioncould not be settled by agreement.Perhaps two-thirds of the C. P. delegates favored a direct endorsement ofthe I. W. W. and a program of cooperation, reserving criticsm of theI. W. W. theorizing. The other CP.delegates considered the I. W. W. asessentially no better than the A. F. ofL., citing the reactionary characterof the I. W. W. in some of the Eastem cities. All of the C P. delegateswere agreed upon an absolute standagainst the A. F.of L. as an inherentlyanti-revolutionary organization whichmust be destroyed.On the other hand, there was astrong current in the C. L. 1 .ranks for a treatment of the subject.. . m 1of industrial unionism rrom a generalview point which would neither includedirect endorsement of the I. W.J W.nor absolute condensation of the A.F. of L. The lead in this debate wastaken bv Dawson who argued thatthe A. F. of L. must be consideredfmm !. nnirln nf the local unions, notfrnm the side of the Gompers officialdom; that industrial unionism washaving a development in many fieldsaside from the J. w. w.; mat minced was for a call to a new generalthe central theme of the sontraryindustrial union, a new Une liigUnion.rt clilnc Hum wai not mlv :iclose analysis "offlhe proper functionOr a uommuniDt pane m ttiuuctuwuwith the unions, but also a wealth ofillustrative material out of actual shopand union experience. Machinists, miners and shin-builders fesed their practical understanding wllli the more abstract conceptions of those whosevision was focused on the ultimate revolutionary clash. The cleavage wasnot between "intellectuals" and "rankand file," but between workers in theindustries who had undergone contrasting forms of experience.The original Joint Committee proposal on this subject had been takenover from a draft by the ChicagoDistrict Committee. Dozens of amendments and substitutes were brought before tho convention, but finally thesection as adopted as originally presented. As a result of the debate, however, tho Committtee opened the subject for reconsideration the next day,presenting two amendments which wereaccepted. In the sentence. "A Communist who belongs to the A. F. of L.,on account of absolute job necessityshould size every opportunity to voicehis hostility to this organization,not to reform it but to destroy it, ' 'there was eliminated the phrase "onaccount of absolute job necessity."The sentence, "A stronger I. W. W.must be built," was stricken out.The unity issued flared up againon tho question of party name. Onthe first vote there were 22 counted for "Communist Party," 24 against.A roll call was demanded; The C. P.names were read first; 30 votes wererecorded for "Communist Party."The C L. P. delegates resentedwhat they considered a coercivevote without any chance for discussion.An indignation speech was made byFlynn which proved the moral power ofeffective minority criticism; with theopening of the next session came aballot vote on "United CommunistParty" or "Communist Party" with"united" written underneath. Thevote was 33 to 22 for "United Communist Party."This appeared to the real achievement of unity, the breakdown of theold party lines... But there were stillthe elections.t ' 9Two important debates came underthe consideration of the Constitution,one on party centralization, the otheron federations.In the first instance the issue ofcentralization came up on the amendment making the C. E. C. appointmentami removal ot organizers subject tothe approval of the district executivecommittees. On the one side it wasargued that this meant the substitution of autonomous districts for autonomous federations, a central executiveshorn of real authority and real capability of action; that democracy wasnot to be obtaned by decentralizationbut only by some effective means forcontrol of the central authority th:.tdistrict committees would lend themselves more easily to factional mnntnn.lation than the central committor Meet.ed in a national convention by delegates well known to the members. Itwas urged that an underground partvmust have the possibility of instantdesision and action bv a small committee; it must act as a sinn-le nine lii tinelse it can nevnr ctril-n n ):..:..'- wb.ii.v u uctiatn-blow.Lack of confidence in officials wasargument. The party affairs, it wasurged, must bo brought nenrer hncontrol of the rank and file. Thecentral committees had t.nonbreeding place of factional controversies. It was not asking much togive me district committees aveto in the choice of theupon whom their work depended.ipon the nrst vote the amendmentwas declared adopted. It then appearedthat some of the aeiegates had misconceived the proposition to be one ofappointing all organizers "from thetop downward," that is, sub-districtsection, branch and group organizersas well as the district organizers. A1motion to reconsider was made anddeclared lost. Then followed a keenparliamentary battle, led by Damon,which finally resulted after three rollcalls in a reversal of the originalvote, 34 to 20.On the federation question the JointCommittee haTJ come to no agreement.In curious contrast to the history oflast Summer, it was tho C.L.P committee members who wore loath to takev. rigorous stand against federations.At tho convention the C. L. P. delegate! took no group stand on this question. Two plans wcro presented, onefor tho C. P. delegates by Damon, theother by Dubner and Rnphniloff fortho federation members of tho C. L. P.The debato was largely between thefederation delegates on both sides.The principal controversy was as tothe existence of national executivecommittees for the language groups,this proposal being decisively voteddown.tLate in the afternoon of the fourthday of the joint sessions it was decidedto proceed with elections of party officials. There had been many hours ofcaucusing on each side as to elections.Regardless of the sentiment of the conventio expressed by a majorityvote against further caucuses, neitherside was willing to risk a surrender ofits group strength.A motion was made by Spark (C. P.)that the C. E. C. be composed ofthe five C. P. delegates and four C.L. P. delegates receiving the highestvotes, without contest as between theC. P. and C. L. P. candidates. Themotion was not supported.Brown and Caxton were the nominees for International Secretary. Brown,30, Caxton 23.With two to elect, there were fournominees for International Delegate.The vote 6tood Damon 30, Meyer(C. L. P.) 28, Caxton 26, Barry (C. L.P.) 26... The lines were not holding;four C. P. votes had been divided between Meyer and Barry.Then came ten nominations for thenine places on the C. E. C. Damon,Scott, Reinhardt, Delion, Zemlin, (C.P.); Meyer, Klein, Flynn, Brown,Dawson, (C.L.P.). These were thecaucus nominations. Obviously the C.L. P. caucus had determined to availitself of the dissensions in the CP.ranks and to attempt to elect a majority of the committee.At the night session was announcedthe result of the balloting; Damon,8cott, Klein, Flynn, 29; Brown 33,Dawson, 32, Meyer, 30; Reinhart, 26;Delion, Zemlin, tied at 24.Damon, Scott and Reinhart quicklyoffered their resignations. A bitter discussion was precipitated. Both sideshad played for "control" and theresult had been a boomerang; for how,it was urged, could the C. P. delegatesreport back to their members that they; nan neen outwitted in strategy in aj way to give the minority control ofI the united party? Even' though the! fault was that of the C. P. delegatesthemselves, how could that remedy thej outside situation!The C.L.P speakers vehementlyj answered that what was done was theresult ot the will ot the convention;that it was outrageous for members toresign from the C. E. C. simply becausethey felt they could not boss the committee and the party; that, after all,j this outcome of the elections would bethe best proof to the members that theold party lines had hcen forgotten.A motion for a recess of half anhour was adopted. Then began the tugof war which went into the middleof the night, only to bo resumed thenext morning the two gTOups, apparently completely welded, nowstanding sharply apart as CP. andC.L.P. The convention vanished; in itsplace were two caucuses, with committees for interchango of offers andcounter-proposals.The strained item in the C. P. camphad been an attack upon Caxton, basedon the "majority" C. P. criticisms.In the C. P. caucus, after long discussion, he had been nominated for theC. E. C, 18 to 9. Later Caxton withdrew his name. Now it was insistedhis name reintroduced, makingZemlin first substitute. The C.L.P. off-redto substitute Caxton for Brownas International Secretary.The last morning found the situationdeadlocked. To open the conventionagain meant to give the CP. the advantage of the renewed caucus pressurein favor of solidarity for CP. control,all questions of personality aside. Theissue of control having been precipitated by the turn of the elections, theCP. delegates were in no mood togive up their demand for a majority oftho C.E.C.The CP. delegates made only onedemand, to reopen the convention. Itwas for the other side to make thenext ynove. . .There is nothing in the official record which suggests under what sortof surroundings all these things hapened. As a matter of fact the physicalsurrounding had a very important partin the struggle for unity; which is not.at all illuminating to the reader whois asked to wait a few years for adescription of these surroundings.Besides, how is one to visualize onegroup of delegates in heated argument,while the other group is engaged in thesinging of revolutionary songs, mostlyRussian, how is one to iamigne allthis without something in the way ofspecial dimensions The singing groupmarches halfway toward the arguinggroup a challenge to unity, the songof the Internationale and reluctantlymarches back to its own meeting place.There is a committee conference. Before the report comes back the linesare formed for a new march, this timeto go all the way. Agreement is reported: a C. E. C. of ten members,the five C.L.P. candidates to standelected, five CP. members now to bechosen. The march proceeds; it is theonly report to the' anxious C.L.P.delegates; the two groups merge intoone another, all singing the Internationale. There is the grasping of hands,the embrace of comradeship; nothingis said there is too much feeling forspeech... Unity is achieved...'Recapitulating, the C. E. C. stands:Damoi, Scott, Reinhart, Delion, Caxton; Brown, Dawson, Klein, Flynn,Meyer. Alternates, in the followingorder, Zemlin (CP.) Dubner (C.L.P),Stone (CP.), Jones (C.L.P.), Kcrker(CP.), Malcolm (C.L.P.), Kazbeck(CP.), Logan (C.L.P.)For International Secretary, Caxtonreplaces Brown; Damon and Meyerstand as International Delegates; Scott,alternate for Damon, Barry, alternatefor Meyer.An American convention of Communists. Yet there was, moro likelythan not, a majority of "foreigners",though the division was fairly even.But these were Communists who werevitally concerned about the classstruggle in America, men and womenwho really expected to take part inthis struggle; not those who toyedwith the Communist movement here asa method of ingratiating themselves inMoscow.It was one of the most inspiringthings about this convention to heardelegates painfully struggling withtho English language, no longer depending for expression on the artificialforeign-language caucuses of prioroenventions, but making themselvesone with all the other delegates indefiance of barriers of language ornationality.Perhaps this was the greater "unity" achievement of this convention....Again and again the sentence washeard: "We have' crossed the Rrrbi-'con." Every delegate was in the handsof his fellows; all subject to imprisonment, deportation, social and economicdisplacement. Yet most of the time,not without thanks to the irrepressible wit of tho convention secretary,Smyth, the whole affair seemed likea jollification. Or perhaps it was thegrim seriousness of it all that challanged relief in playfulness!. . .A revolutionary movement driven"underground" is apt to be drivenaway at the same time from its ownpetty animosities and quibbles. Forcedto face the life and death character ofthe combat, it is likely to discard pretenses, evasions, purposeless quarrelsabout persons. Confusion gives wayto clarity; hesitation yields to sterndetermination.A convention of revolutionistsa convention which relentlessly searched the truth of its every word audthe heart of its every delegateThe Development ot ProductionUnder the SovietsNEW YORK A minute and frankdescription of intcu.nl conditions inRussia is contained in the report ofthe All-Russinn Central Executive Committee, held in Moscow February 2,the full text of which has just beenobtained by the Soviet Russia bureauhere. In the reports of Nicolai Lenin,Leon Trotzky, of Rykov, presiibnt ofthe Supremo Council of National Economy, and of other peoples' eommisars.there are reflected the actual exigenciesagainst which tho government isstruggling and tho methods by whichit proposes to solve thornLenin's report dealt primarily withRussia's foreign relations. The premier declared that the victorious poncowith Esthonia was concluded in spiteof the powerful efforts of the WhiteOnards, and that there was hope thatthe laboring masses of Poland, Georgiaand Azerbaijan would force the sameaction."In the east the prestigo of sovietRussia is very high," Lenin assorted."The colonies, who have themselvesexperienced the oppression of greedyimperialism, are more and moro inclined to ally themselves with us. Ourtask is a compact union of smJ' nation against imperialism."Lenin announced as the chief pointsof internal policy the abolition ofcapital punishment, the institution oflabor inspection, the development andunification of all cooperatives underthe soviet state, the organization ofthe labor armies, and the electrification of tho country's industrial centers. Rykov ' report pointed dot that thedisintegration of the country's industrial life was reflected in every Kuropcan country as the result of theworld war, and a prime need tf allwas the resumption of full commorcialrelations."Although available stores of rawmaterials have been greatly depicted,we are still able to exchange a certainamount of such materials for goodsneeded by us," he stated, "Wo areable immediately to export not lessthan two million poods of flax (72,000.000 lbs.) several million pieces ofnil kinds of furs, a great Quantity ofplatinum, about 100,000 poodj (3,600,000 lbs) of bristles, and great amountsof lumber. In exchango for this, weI will accept only such goods as aroindispensable for the rehabilitation ofI the basic productive enterprises of the' country."The nationalization of the meansof production has developed rapidly inall fields of industrial production. Atthe present time we have in our handsabout 4.000 nationalized factories, inI ether words, we have been ablo to' rationalize not only the big industries,but also n considerable number ofsma'lcr enterprises.1 "During the past two years wou.ive endeavored to concentrate availpble supplies of raw material, fuel,and labor in such factories ns are bestorganized and moBt up to date. Thisprocess of concentration has progressid very rapidly; 30 percent of all theenterprises hnvc been unfiod into asocialistic 'trust'. The number ofwnrkingmcn in these factories Is 71per cent. We find that by concentrating 74 per cent of the industrial laborin 30 per rent of our factories wc havebeen able to economize on overheadexpenses to a great extont."Ouf ot Important problem atin' time is the reconstruction of the.nenns cf transportation, and thereafterto create large reserve funds of foolsupplies, fuel and raw materials, whichwill form a basis for a rational organization of the economic life of thecountry."Rykov discussed at groat length thaproblems connected with the exploitation of the immonso national wealthof the country. Immense stores of slatepent, coal and oil are now available.Especially, there are great supplies ofslate and peat in the Volga valley, hosaid."Tho utilization of slate is a newfield, which received no attetntion inRusiu during the former regimes, butwhich has been fully studied andworked up by the Soviet Government,"Rykov dcclnred. "Tho preliminary experiments in this field have been completed, and two big government plantsare now exclusively exploiting theslate deposit. Deposits of slnte andpeat are immenso Thoy exist in northtnn Russia ns well ns in the Volgivalley. This kind of fuel is very bulkyand cannot be transported Poat andslute must bo utilized on the spot, andelcctrikal energy derived therefromniado lo supply the needs of the surrounding territory. This condition lediho Supreme Council of Nntionnl Economy eighteen months ago to undertake the building of gigantic powfrItatlcM which would use on the pr-tthe available peat and slnte supplies.Provincial cities and rural organizations have also taken steps for thei Icetrificatlnn of their territory. It isiiecessry to consolidate these efforcsand to create n unified, centralizedi-yMom of supplying electric power,wcreby the utmost nttention must lidpeon lo supplving electricity to therural communities. The realization ofl"noe plans would greatly acrelebiatothe development of relations hctwwnthe cities and rural communities."After outlining the success of thesoviet army on the various fronts,'Trotsky emphasized the necessity firthe establishment of universal laborservice, which under a Socialist stiit,-,he stated, was a vory different matter,from compulsory labor under conditions:r , i - L.' it. .1 -, 1 Ioi private ownersnip. ne ueciari-u mat,the enthusiasm of the Red Army mustbe borrowed by the workers, and thatthe p-'nsants particularly must beeducated in the role which they mustpl.av for thtir own salvation."Our most dangerous front at thistime is the economic front," he said."Our greatest problem at the presentmoment is the organization of a largorc.ierve of supplies. Thcro is no denbtthat we shall solve this prcblem aswe have solved all our problems,IharVs to the heroism of the workingclass. "The inspiring of the railroad workers with a full sense of tho necessityfor rebuilding Russia's transported io-iwas emphasized also by Krassin, poopies' commissnr of Ways and Communications, who Joclarcd that transportation crisis now prevails not onlyIn Ruatla, but in every other Europeancountry. Krniuin stated that the effort of sections of the Ited Army diverted to rnilroad service had withinone month increased the number of suplytrains to Moscow by 20 per cent, nnd the:ut ices of many thousands of thelabor army would soen rebuild thecountry's rail system1 The I'ommisisr of Supplies, Zurupa.repnrtod the existence of supplies ofrrain .r0 per rent greater than nt thei corresponding period in 1910, but Ifr...l tl.nl It V,.,l ,l Utmasl 1 9 I('1)0.000 pounds of grain, 231,000,000 efmenr, 828,000,000 of petatres, and 3,i"ii.DO0 ef dried vegetnbVs ZarupSMated that the willingness oi thepinsant population rroularly to supply fnodatnffs wss rapidly Increasing,hnd that the oimmltsariat wat developing means of distributing game anddairy products from the agriculturaldistricts to the cities.Because of the criticism ancouutercd by this department, ihc ExecutiveCommittee appointed a committee ofthroe to reorganize its activities. Thecommittee eonMsted of one membereach from the Executive committee, theCommissfcrint and the All-RussianCouncil of Trade Unions.oTin: UNITED STATES CHAMBEROF PROFITEERS.(Continued from page 1-st.)held in Atlantic city, as mentioned.They knocked the soldiers bonus with asledgo hammer, and every oko knowswhy. They hissed Matt Woll, Gompersright hand man off the stago whenhe attempted to say something againstAllen's Kansas Slavery law. And whytOf course this is nnother law of Mosesto them, and bless you there wisHennery .lav Allen fat joweled, hooknosed, shining like n morning sunflower, one of tho honored guests ofthe occasion. IIo had his IndustrialHull thero, of course. Hnenery'n Bullmust have been of good service therefor right now tho U. 8. 0, of C.is taking a vote of its club und little"mo too" orgnnintioi throughoutthe country making tho strike of cmployees of public service corporationsa crime, somewhat as follows:"The recommendations drnfted bythe chamber's public utilities committee were that strikes by employesof till public aervico corporationsshould be eiplicitly prohibited andthat suitable tribunals should becrented to adjudicate differences between such employes nnd their employers, decisions to bo final andbinding on boll parties."tilYou know how the vote will be ofcourse, so do we. I'll bet that whenHennery Jay notes how bis good workis spreading thst ho will feel prouderthan Pontius Pilate did when he sentChrist to the cross. Remember whatPontius did f He jumped into a lakeand drowned himself. Wonder if therearc any lakes in Kansas. There is afar better man in Kansas than Hennery Allen, I strained my eyes to seehim but ho was not there, tho courageous Alexander Howatt.But boys if you want to see fireworks, just say "Labor," in a lily fingered, paunchy bunch like this. You shouldhave heard George Post, pres. of theNew York Standard Coupler Co. explode! And all about these damnedworking people thinking of trying toelect persons favorablo to their interests, a horrible crimot Remember the"purposes" of this stnll fed bunchquoted from their own papers. Bereminded one of a niekle bunch offire crackers going off. Ho urged thenation's capitalists to plunge into thecampaign in defense of any and allcandidates that labor opposes etc.Do you sec what you aro up against!The corrupting millions of the Stooltrust nnd this present and most sinisterof all organizations that seek tho dcrtrution of American laborl There Isbut one way to conquer, and that Isin perfect and unbroken solidafity intho ranks of lsbor. To attempt to oppose these colossal and corrupt combination's in little segregated groups,on the Gompers plnn, is piffle. Whentho grent army of Labor combines asa unit, with a revolutionary purposeand "All Power to the Workers", asits slogan, then will we emerge into thesunlight of freedom.ARO, Finlnnd, The White Terrorcontinues. Early in May tho supremecourt of Abo sentenced five workersto the penitentiary for a total offourteen years Resides they lost theircitizenship rights. Their "crimo" was' amSMl laas for trensnn."r ii Humnnlnn children carry their ownI seats to school because or the generallack of chairs. Miss Alida C. Bowler,just back from Rumania after sevennonths service in social work, told aSeattle audience.Miss Bowler declared that tons ofsocks knitted in this country had tobe unraveled when they reachod Europe and rcmado into clothing. Sockswere used in place of paper bags inthe distribution of sugar, she said.Tons of pajamas intended for reliefwere cut up and made into suits forchildren.Miss Graco Harrington, back fromSibcriu wheie she was acting chiefnurse of the American Red Cross, toldthe audience that the Russians weroa kindly generous people rather thantho half mad destroyers tho Americanplute press would havo them appoar.MOSCOW. At the conference of thethird international held in Moeoow onMay 2, Bnkharin, Radek and Zinovieffwore named as the committee to decidethe question of admittance to the Communist International. The conferencealso decided in favor of Parliamentaryaction in so far as it serves the propagation of the revolutionary spirit.MOSCOW. Tho Soviet election inOmsk resulted in a communist victory.All elected delegates, 465. are membersof the Communist party, 64 per cont oftho qualified voters participated inelections.I At the Inst Congress of Soviots inMoscow, at which Kamcnev presided,tho People's Commissar of Education,Lunncharsky, delivered a report statingthat in Hoviot Russia l.iifiO schoolswere opened in 1919. Altogethor theroare now in Soviet UnsHin 50,000 schoolsof tho first grade and 21,000 schoolsof the second grade, ho stated.In 1919, 150,000 pnirs of boots werodistributed to the needy school children. To stimulate higher educntion, theCommissariat for Popular Instructionipproprintcd a sum of 140,000,000rubles in its budgot, Tho number ofuniversity students in Soviet Russiais now 158,000 including auditors utpeople's and pensants' universities, astroll as the participants in a numborof othnr courses. Tho number of professors is 5,500. In addition thero aroin Pctrograd, Moscov, Voronezh, Kazanand S.aratnb various schools for thetraining of artists, attended by morethan 4,000 studentsn